Copiula derongo (Zweifel 2000)

Part of the specimens previously belonging to Sphenophryne macrorhyncha (Zweifel, 1956) now belong to this species Austrochaperina derongo. This is a moderate sized species with a maximum SVL of females being 42 mm and males 37 mm. Head is narrower than the body. Snout is subacute in dorsal view and strongly projecting when viewed laterally. The canthus rostralis is rounded and the loreal region is nearly vertical while shallowly concave. Eyes are small, laterally placed, and have an interorbital space more than twice the width of the upper eyelid. Relative finger lengths are as follows: 3>4>2>1, with the first digit reaching to the anterior edge of subarticular elevation of the second. The relative toe lengths are as follows: 4>3>5>2>1; the first toe is short and reaches the base of subarticular of the second. All toes have a terminal disc. Body is smooth. In preservative, the coloration is a gray-brown with many darker speckles and a pale band extending a short distance behind the eye on the dorsal surface of the head. Lateral and groin region are also a pale ground color. Ventral skin is pale and unmarked. Soles are brown with pale irregular markings. Most males have the tip of the snout much paler than the rest of the head (some females have this as well).

Males call from areas adjacent to water. According to Paijmans (1975), the habitat in which this species has been collected are considered to be “medium crowned lowland hill forest.” Austrochaperina derongo have been found from low to moderate elevations along the southern flank of the central dividing range east of Irian Jaya/Papua New Guinea border.

Call: a series of brief, harsh, pulsed notes (Zweifel, 2000). “A typical note begins with three brief pulses followed by several longer, louder ones gradually diminishing in duration and intensity” (Zweifel, 2000).

Copiula derongo is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to New Guinea and found in both Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The specific name derongo refers to its type locality, the village of Derongo in the Western Province (Papua New Guinea). Based on molecular evidence, it was transferred from Austrochaperina to Copiula in 2016.